how much should i eat to get rid of stubborn stomach fat?

Hey im 5'7 and weight about 130lbs & 21 yrs old...I'm at the gym 6 times a week doing different cardio workouts, weights, and interval training classes. I'm never too hungry in the morning but always force myself to eat plain nonfat yogurt with fruit before my workouts for energy. I have been working really hard and want to flatten and define my stomach a lot more. I eat clean throughout the day but once dinner time comes around I'm never satisfied with my one healthy meal and then always crave sweets. If i give in, I feel overly stuffed and very disappointed in myself since it ruins all my hard work earlier in the day. This seems to be an ongoing problem and thinking it has to do with maybe not eating enough earlier in the day...How many grams of proteins, fats, carbs (& calories) should I be eating to lose a few pounds and get rid of stubborn stomach fat...any thoughts on fat burner supplements as well?

Hey im 5'7 and weight about 130lbs & 21 yrs old...I'm at the gym 6 times a week doing different cardio workouts, weights, and interval training classes. I'm never too hungry in the morning but always force myself to eat plain nonfat yogurt with fruit before my workouts for energy. I have been working really hard and want to flatten and define my stomach a lot more. I eat clean throughout the day but once dinner time comes around I'm never satisfied with my one healthy meal and then always crave sweets. If i give in, I feel overly stuffed and very disappointed in myself since it ruins all my hard work earlier in the day. This seems to be an ongoing problem and thinking it has to do with maybe not eating enough earlier in the day...How many grams of proteins, fats, carbs (& calories) should I be eating to lose a few pounds and get rid of stubborn stomach fat...any thoughts on fat burner supplements as well?

First off, 5'7" at 130 lb is actually healthy.

Second, no one can tell you how much you have to eat re fat loss for YOU. Everyone is different and therefore responds to different things re successful fat loss. This goes for macronutrient ratios - no one can tell you what is optimal for you.

"Flattening and defining your stomach" are essentially going to come down to your NUTRITION. If you're NOT eating enough, then your body will battle you to hold onto the fat. If you're not drinking enough, you can get water retention, which can give the stomach a puffy/bloated appearance.

Actually, eating more and "cheating" is NOT going to ruin your efforts, and in all honesty, some "bad" days are actually beneficial for fat loss.

You really need to look at your nutrition - make sure you are eating and drinking enough, are eating the right foods when, etc. "I eat clean" does not mean that your nutrition is good.

As far as supplements - you do NOT need them, and unless you're already relatively lean (<12-15% bodyfat for a female) and just want to lose that last 1-2% bodyfat, then you're really wasting your money on them.

I highly recommend that you read The 3 Keys to Fat Loss - this tells you everything you need to know re nutrition and training for fat loss.

What are your macros like now? A good general starting place for overall calories if you are trying to lose is 12x body weight... in your case that would be 1560. I generally try to eat 1g of protein/lb of body weight; fats .4-.5g/lb, and carbs make up the rest.

Eating clean doesn't really tell us much, so maybe an example of foods/portions you're eating throughout the day would help.

make sure you get enough protein. I would do a low carb diet mon-fri and a low fat diet on the weekends. This will let your body think the diet is over come sat and than you throw it right back into the low carb diet come monday. Do this for 6wks with more ab, oblique, low back workouts. Pretty much your mid-section. goodluck

Well the answer is with in you if you let your self it too much of it. It is just a matter of discipline of how you are going to control your self from it. I do sometimes experience that but what I usually do is to just take a bite or a piece of that food and that's already enough of me.

Hey im 5'7 and weight about 130lbs & 21 yrs old...I'm at the gym 6 times a week doing different cardio workouts, weights, and interval training classes. I'm never too hungry in the morning but always force myself to eat plain nonfat yogurt with fruit before my workouts for energy. I have been working really hard and want to flatten and define my stomach a lot more. I eat clean throughout the day but once dinner time comes around I'm never satisfied with my one healthy meal and then always crave sweets. If i give in, I feel overly stuffed and very disappointed in myself since it ruins all my hard work earlier in the day. This seems to be an ongoing problem and thinking it has to do with maybe not eating enough earlier in the day...How many grams of proteins, fats, carbs (& calories) should I be eating to lose a few pounds and get rid of stubborn stomach fat...any thoughts on fat burner supplements as well?

Sorry to "re-open" a thread that hasn't seen any posts for a while, but thought I should interject my opinion from having to deal with overly skinny bikini models, a sister trying to "lose weight", and many girl friends trying "get rid of stomach fat", etc..

First off, you can't target fat loss, nor can you ask someone what to eat on your day to day basis. secondly, your nutrition intake varies from person to person. I believe you should experiment with carbs, fats, and proteins to figure out which sources of each, as well as quantities, etc., work best for you. For "weight loss" (even though your weight is in my opinion a little low, and you probably need to just lose a pound of belly fat according to your post), limit your carb intake, reduce fat sources towards using light amounts of butter, using olive oils, flax seed or fish oils (or both), peanuts (if you're not allergic), almonds, and other naturally occurring fats in minimally processed food.

Another key to fat loss is cardio, as mentioned before. Figure out what fits into your schedule best as far as intensity, length, and type. some people can't run for long, and prefer elliptical machines or stairs. Whatever works for you, work it into your schedule. You should also try to do cardio with as little in your stomach as possible. I prefer in the morning before breakfast, as that helps your body burn fat/calories better... well for some people.

Also, in agreement to Rosie, you may not need to really lose any fat at all. Women naturally have a higher body fat percentage, and also look better that way. The skinny, 6% body fat models you see are not what you want. Get to a healthy weight, and body fat % that's right for you, and start doing your cardio and getting your diet dialed in. It will take time, but the time sure is worth it

...Women naturally have a higher body fat percentage, and also look better that way. The skinny, 6% body fat models you see are not what you want. Get to a healthy weight, and body fat % that's right for you...

Just to add here, that women canNOT physiologically get to 6% bodyfat - they CAN have the same TOTAL skinfolds as a male, but they will ALWAYS come out as ~3% HIGHER re body composition because they have more essential fat than a male. I do know that everyone is different and that some women can get leaner than others - however, anything less than ~7% bodyfat is pretty much impossible for a woman to be. Females essential fat stores are between 8-12% bodyfat - therefore some women may not be able to get lower than ~12% bodyfat, and others will be able to get to ~8% bodyfat (or slightly less). Any female that thinks/says she is less than 7% bodyfat is using the calculations for a MALE. Do note that a woman can have the same total skinfolds as a male, but her body composition will ALWAYS be HIGHER!

Good to know, I'll keep it in mind. I was mainly just giving an example to the anorexic models you see in magazines now days. Either way, that is something for me to keep in mind for a few women I've had ask me about dieting.

I am new on here but from my experiences.Breakfast is everything,it makes or breaks your nutrition for the whole day.I know that when I first started training I had the same problem.If you keep a log of everything you eat it will really help you get a better idea of what to adjust.I hope I helped you.Take care

My 2 cents/suggestions:
1. add in grapefruit as your morning fruit.
2. Suppressor chewables from EST. They are a chocolate brownie flavor and while it may not be like consuming a candy bar or something similar, but controlling yourself with sweets is the biggest thing. So these should help 2 fold, 1 you get that taste of something sweet, 2. you get appetite suppression.

My 2 cents/suggestions:
1. add in grapefruit as your morning fruit.
2. Suppressor chewables from EST. They are a chocolate brownie flavor and while it may not be like consuming a candy bar or something similar, but controlling yourself with sweets is the biggest thing. So these should help 2 fold, 1 you get that taste of something sweet, 2. you get appetite suppression.

Only thing I am forced to add, and with lots of emphasis, is to be careful with any form of appetite suppression! I trained this one girl who wanted to try a fat burner with a suppressant in it, although, I was wary about it, and told her to wait before she started using the fat burner (she was over 3 months away from her competition). Anyways, she had a dose one morning, and couldn't eat all day long (from about 6am till midnight). And on top of that. she was wired all day. Mind you, her pills had ephedrine, so that caused her to be wired... but the other half still stands.

Whenever you try something new, be careful. Appetite suppressants can be awesome tools, but use them sparsely in the beginning. Sorry to kinda dog on you Bnatural, just wanted to say this before anyone started using these to suppress their appetite for most of the day :/

Truth, always start with half the recommended dose as a female, and move from there.

Side note: Ephedra was the most potent appetite stimulant I've ever used, and nothing has come close to the effects of that. Not saying don't be cautious in this situation, just giving more props to our imprisoned homie Ephedra